Connie Britton Confirms ‘Nashville’ Season 5 Return — Which Other Cast Members Will Join Her?

Ever since CMT announced that the network had officially picked up Nashville for Season 5, fans have been speculating about which of the original cast members would be making the move with the show to the new network.

The network has yet to officially confirm which of the drama’s original cast members will be returning, though Connie Britton is now dropping serious hints that Rayna James will, in fact, be back for Season 5.

When asked by Entertainment Tonight if she has big plans to reprise her role in the upcoming season of Nashville, Britton replied, “Of course, of course!” suggesting that Connie will be signing on the dotted line to continue on with the show.

But as for what’s next for Rayna in Season 5 of Nashville, Connie confessed to the site that she actually doesn’t have any inside information regarding the coming season and only discovered that the show had been picked up when CMT issued an official statement about the pick-up on June 10.

“I don’t know anything! Literally, I found out today like everybody else,” Britton admitted in the new interview. “I have no information to tell you!”

While Connie isn’t divulging any spoilers about the upcoming fifth season of Nashville, fans of the country music series were quick to express their excitement about the return of Britton’s Rayna James reprisal on social media.

“So glad [Connie Britton] is on board for S5!” Twitter user @Dreamer_123 wrote on the social media site on June 11. “#Nashville would not be the same without her! We need more Rayna! #NashvilleIsBack.”

“#Nashville would not be #Nashville without Rayna James and [Connie Britton] #NashvilleIsBack going to be interesting S5,” @AtkinsonNancy added, while @ChronicVinyl tweeted to Connie, “glad to here you’re gonna be staying here in Music City a bit longer! We’re glad to have you here! #Nashville.”

Nashville’s Clare Bowen, who plays Scarlett O’Connor, also teased that she’d be open to continuing on with the series in a separate interview with Entertainment Tonight, admitting before CMT announced that the drama series would be back that she was “really excited for whatever happens.”

Although the rest of the Nashville cast have so far stayed tight-lipped on whether or not they’ll follow the series, which was cancelled by ABC last month, to its new network, Lionsgate’s head of TV, Kevin Beggs, previously teased that it’s pretty likely that the entire cast will be making a return.

Speaking out about the possibility of Nashville continuing on for season 5 prior to CMT’s announcement, Beggs admitted to Variety that Lionsgate have “long-term deals with the cast,” suggesting that Connie and Clare’s co-stars, including Hayden Panettiere and Charles Esten, will also be reprising their roles.

Entertainment Tonight previously noted earlier this week that Beggs had previously referred to Connie and Hayden as being “essential” to the show but claimed “the cast deals have not yet been struck” for Nashville’s upcoming fifth season.

CMT officially announced that Nashville would be returning to TV following its ABC cancellation in a statement issued to Access Hollywood on June 10.

The president of the CMT network, Brian Philips, claimed in a statement that the drama was “a perfect addition to CMT’s evolving line-up,” before noting that “CMT heard the fans” after viewers campaigned to get the series back on the air.

“We see our fans and ourselves in this show and we will treasure it like no other network,” Brian continued of the show’s reprisal, adding that “Nashville belongs on CMT.”

Would you like to see the original Nashville cast return for Season 5 on CMT?

[Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images for Ketel One]